COMPUTER-ASSISTED SYSTEMS FOR QUARRY PLANNING AND OPTIMIZATION OF LOADING AND TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT

The use of software in the form of EDP-assisted systems for planning a nd operation in the non-metallic minerals industry offers a variety of opportunities for rationalization of repetitive work and work which w as previously carried out manually It provides the ability to measure and utilize many individual items of information, and to adopt experie nce obtained in other areas. The best technical and economic solutions from various alternatives which take account of constraints specific to the operation can be established in a short planning time by simula ting the deposit, the excavating, loading and transport equipment and the primary crusher Because of the variety of display and output optio ns there is much to recommend the use of EDP-assisted systems to provi de clearer explanations (e. g. in photo-realistic form) during authori zation procedures. This al ticle explains the possible uses of softwar e in the form of EDP-assisted systems for planning work. Among other t hings, a description is given of the subsidiary aspects of deposit sim ulation, of the calculation of reserves, of layout planning, of excava tion simulation, of simulating loading and transport equipment, of sim ulating the primary crusher location, of preparing drawings and of set ting up a digital information system. Experience so far with a large n umber of practical plant applications and research activities has conf irmed the effectiveness of the programs used and substantiated the ind ustry's basic need for computer-assisted methods for dealing with plan ning work.